


Playing Tourist

by LtTanyaBoone



Category: NCIS
Genre: Episode Related, Friendship, Gen, UST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 06:56:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LtTanyaBoone/pseuds/LtTanyaBoone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While out with his sister, Tim runs into Ziva and her friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playing Tourist

**Author's Note:**

> The picture we see of Ziva and Shmeil in S10E11 made me wonder who took it.

**Disclaimers:** NCIS, the rights to the show and its characters do not belong to me. No money was made by this.  
 **Spoilers:** S10E08 "Gone", S10E11 "Shabbat Shalom"  
 **Pairing:** Tim McGee & Ziva David friendship, hints at McGiva

* * *

“So, you’re gonna try to get in?“ Tim asked his sister, handing her the cup of coffee. Sarah gave a soft sigh before she attempted to blow through the small hole in the lid as they picked up their pace again.

“I’m not sure.” she said, furrowing her brows. “I have no idea what I want to do at this point, really. It feels like, I’ve spent so much time studying and worrying about my grades and writing papers that the thought of suddenly not having to do this any more kind of… frightens me.” she admitted, casting a glance at her brother out of the corner of her eye. “But at the same time, this isn’t why I went for literature as my major, you know? I wanted to be a writer. And I feel like… I’m just giving up on that.”

Tim nodded thoughtfully, gesturing towards one of the benches.

“How did you decide?” Sarah asked him, watching her brother. “After college, what you wanted to do?”

“Well, I’m not sure if I’m the best person to ask.” McGee said, letting his eyes roam over the tourists out on this winter day, exploring DC and taking the obligatory pictures of the sights. He remembered a day years ago when he had managed to convince Ziva to play tourist for a day. They’d gotten a map and a guide book and tried to see as much as possible, him acting as her guide. It had been summer then and ridiculously hot, though Ziva had just laughed at his complaints and told him stories about summer in Israel… They’d had so much fun then that they had turned it into a regular thing, the two of them choosing one famous location or building or museum and going there.

“Tim?” Sarah’s voice cut through his thoughts and McGee quickly shook his head to clear it.

“Sorry, what was that?” he asked her sheepishly, only to find his sister shake her head at him.

“Rough case?” she asked him, leaning back on the bench. Tim hesitated briefly before he shook his head.

“No. No, I was just… remembering something.” he told her, taking a deep breath. “Anyways, maybe you should take some time off.” he suggested, almost laughing at his sister’s shocked expression. “Yeah, you know, travel a little. Go to Europe. A new city every seven to nine days. Wander the streets, explore. Think about what you want in life. Watch people go about theirs. Maybe you find what you want to do then.”

Sarah gaped at him, shaking her head.

“Who are you and what have you done to my brother?” she asked him, scooting away a little on the bench. Tim let out a chuckle and reached out, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to pull her close and kissing her temple when she hit his chest in protest.

“That was Thom talking.” he muttered as he let go of her again. Sarah nodded thoughtfully, tapping her finger against her paper cup.

“Maybe Thom has a point.” she allowed, taking another sip of the coffee. “Maybe I do need a break.”

Tim smiled softly at her as she leaned against him, starting to needle him about their latest case. They remained sitting there for a while, just talking and watching people move by before Tim got up, holding out his hand for Sarah’s empty cup so he could throw them away. When he turned around, he furrowed his brows, shaking his head a little. Maybe Sarah was right and the last case had been a bit rough, at least that would explain why he was suddenly hearing things. Only when he came back from the trash can, he found that he had not been imagining things: two benches down from them he saw Ziva sitting there, her head tilted back as she laughed heartily at something.

“You okay?” Sarah asked him when she found him staring at the distance, until she followed his eyes. “Oh.” his sister muttered, but before Tim could do anything, Sarah was already walking briskly in the direction of where his friend was sitting, leaving him no choice but to follow.

“Hi Ziva.” she greeted the other woman, causing the Israeli to startle. Ziva reached up to cover her eyes against the sun so she could make out who was talking to her, and when she recognized Sarah, a smile stole across her face. That only widened when she saw McGee jog up to them.

“Hello Sarah. Hi McGee.” she greeted them, getting up from the bench.

Tim felt his ears burning already. He knew that Ziva had a visitor and he hadn’t wanted to intrude on her private time with a friend (or perhaps more). If Sarah hadn’t been so fast, he would have pulled her in the other direction and never have mentioned seeing her to Ziva, but now he had no other choice but to acknowledge that they had crossed paths in their off-hours. Not that he didn’t like spending time with her, on the contrary, but… well, she was clearly busy with her-

When the old gentleman started rising, too, Tim briefly thought that he was just a stranger and that Ziva’s companion had disappeared somewhere briefly, but then he saw the man give him a once-over and he suddenly felt uncomfortable in his skin.

“Hi.” Tim finally greeted her, hoping that his blush wouldn’t spread.

“Oh, I’m sorry. This is my colleague and good friend Tim McGee, and his sister Sarah. And this, is my friend Shmeil Pinkhas.” Ziva introduced them. Much to Tim’s surprise, the small old man started smiling warmly at him when he heard his name, offering his hand to shake.

“Nice to meet you.” Tim greeted him.

“Oh yes, very nice indeed. Ziva has been telling me a lot about you. You are the writer, right?” Pinkhas asked and Tim blinked in surprise, casting a glance at Ziva and almost reaching up to rub his eyes. Was she actually blushing?

“Well, he likes to fancy himself as one, anyway.” Sarah teased him, giving him a little nudge and Tim glared at her.

“I was showing Shmeil around.” Ziva explained, producing a tattered map and showing it to them. There were some places circled in various colors, and when he took a real look at it, Tim recognized his own hand-writing. It was the map they had gotten on that day when he’d played tourist guide for her. The one they had added to over the weekends after that, tackling one sight at a time whenever their schedules allowed for it. Tim frowned lightly as he tried to remember when those afternoons had stopped, only to realize that it must have been when she had returned to Israel after Rivkin’s death.

“Oh, that looks like a long list.” Sarah said, causing Shmeil to nod enthusiastically.

“Oh yes, it is.” he smiled, hooking his arm through Ziva’s. “I’m not in the country for long and I want to see as much as possible.”

“You two should join us.” Ziva suddenly remarked, looking at the siblings. “Next stop is the Washington Monument.” she added, a hopeful note in her voice.

“Oh, I would love to,” Sarah started, making an apologetic face, “but I have to get back, my roommate’s parents are coming to visit and I promised to help clean the apartment.” she said. “But I’m sure Tim will join you.” she added, leaning in conspiratorially. “He needs some more sunlight, I think he’s been running around as his Elf Lord too much.”

“Thank you, Sarah.” McGee rolled his eyes at his sister as Ziva chuckled softly. Sarah just shrugged before she hugged him, saying goodbye to Ziva and Shmeil before she disappeared.

“Well, let’s go!” Pinkhas declared, grabbing his umbrella from the bench and starting to lead the way into the throng of tourists.

“Um, the monument is in the other direction…” Tim offered a weak protest, but Ziva just shook her head, hooking her arm through his as she fell into step beside him.

“Leave him, he’ll notice it soon enough.” she said. Tim looked down at her, taking in the sparkle in her eyes and the bright and happy smile on her face.

“You look like you’re actually enjoying this.” he said, taking in her expression. Ziva leaned back a little, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

“Does that surprise you?” she asked him and McGee shrugged. “Well, I used to enjoy our afternoons together, too. When we were exploring DC.” she reminded him, reaching up to pull her hair into a ponytail as the wind started picking up a bit. “And it is lovely to see his enthusiasm.” she added with a nod in her friend’s direction. Who by now had realized that they were walking in the wrong direction.

“So, Ziva tells me you are good with computers, too?” Pinkhas turned to Tim when they had turned around, walking into the direction of the Reflection Pool. McGee nodded.

“Yeah, I know a few things.”

He felt Ziva hit his upper arm at that.

“Stop that. He is amazing, Shmeil. You should see him get background information on our victims and suspects. Things that neither Tony nor I were able to find most of the time. And I have no idea how he does it.” she told her friend and the old man bopped his head.

“I was hoping, we’ve been taking pictures, and I wanted to send some to my friends by email, but for some reason, I can’t get it to work…” he trailed off with a soft sigh.

“I can look at it later. If you want me to.” Tim offered, realizing belatedly that perhaps Shmeil and Ziva had other plans for the evening that watch him diddle around someone’s computer. To his surprise, the older man’s face lit up.

“That would be lovely!” he exclaimed. “I try to keep up with it, but some things are just, evolving too fast. It feels like yesterday that I bought my first music tape, and now people are running around with these little iPods that don’t even have buttons anymore.” he smiled as they finally reached the Reflection Pool and Shmeil stood there, staring across the water at the Monument, taking it in.

Ziva took out the camera and Tim’s eyes budged a little. He hadn’t known she possessed such expensive equipment, but then his friend furrowed her brows at the thing.

“You wouldn’t happen to know how to set the exposure time?” she muttered to him, and he shook his head.

“No idea, sorry.” he told her, hearing her give a soft sigh.

“The last pictures he took were inside. I was hoping to get one of him like this, but alas…” she trailed off, shaking her head before walking over to Shmeil and handing him the camera, allowing him to change the settings quickly. Then she returned to Tim’s side and took a picture of her friend, checking it afterwards before Tim held out his hand.

“What?”

“Gimme the camera.” he told her. Ziva eyed him suspiciously.

“How many pictures do you have of you two together? Come on, hand it over and get over there.” Tim said. The Israeli took off the camera and handed it to him, quickly explaining how to zoom and take a picture before she quickly slipped through a group of tourists to get to her friend, wrapping an arm around Shmeil. As Tim took the picture, he saw the man’s lips move, but the noise from the group drowned out what he said. It must have been something funny or teasing, though, because Ziva smiled and shook her head, poking his chest a little before she tugged on his tie. Tim quickly called her name and Ziva looked up and he shot another picture of them, Ziva smiling in the direction of the camera, her hand around Shmeil’s tie and the man gazing at her with an expression of love and adoration.

“There you go.” Tim said as he handed the camera back and they all took a look at the map again, trying to find the next place to show Ziva’s guest.

* * *

Ziva picked up the wine glasses from the table and carried them over to the couch, sitting down with a soft sigh.

“Tired?” Tim grinned at her and she let out an uncharacteristic groan.

“My feet are killing me.” she groaned, handing him his glass before toasting him and taking a sip of her wine. “Thank you again. For fixing his computer.”

“Ah, it was nothing.” he mumbled, resting his head back against the couch. “I had a lot of fun today. And I got my first fully kosher meal, too.” he said after a while and Ziva nodded.

“Yes, it was lovely.” she agreed, the happy smile returning to her face. “Though I have no idea how he does it, really. I am so exhausted…” she trailed off, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “But it was an amazing day. And it was good seeing Sarah again, too.”

Tim nodded, his eyes drifting to the digital clock on her DVD player. It was getting late and he should be going, but he had absolutely no motivation to get up from Ziva’s comfortable couch and go home. Though crashing here was not an option, seeing as Shmeil was currently occupying the guest bedroom, and Tim did not want to find out what would happen if the old man walked into the living room the next morning to find him on the couch.

“You and Shmeil, you seem close.” he softly said, watching Ziva. Her expression turned thoughtful as she ran her index finger over the rim of her glass.

“We are. I met him when I was young and… I guess I was lost, in a way.” she said, hesitating. “For every operative, there comes a certain point, when they are at the brink of turning into something… unpleasant.” she explained. “Some are lucky, they have people who catch them. Who remind them of what it means to be human.”

“Pinkhas was that man for you.” Tim realized and Ziva nodded.

“Yes. After my sister died, there was a time when all I thought about was revenge. I didn’t care about the price, I just wanted to know that the people who were responsible would get what they deserved. And I forgot that there are some journeys that, once begun, are impossible to return from.”

McGee swallowed thickly. He hadn’t heard her talk about her sister in years, but what she was saying now made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

“Luckily, I met Shmeil before it was too late for me.” Ziva declared with a shake of her head, her eyes becoming focused again.

“Well, he is a great guy.” Tim proclaimed.

“He is.” his friend agreed, turning to look at him. She tilted her head at him. “And he rather likes you.” she said, making Tim frown in surprise.

“What?”

Ziva nodded, taking a sip of her wine again. “Oh yes.” she laughed. “I told him a lot about the team, and you’re the only one he keeps asking about if I forget in an email.” she informed him.

“That’s, uh…” Tim muttered, unsure of what to say. It was strange to know that someone he had not met before today could know details about his life that other people, those who knew him, might not even be aware of.

“He knows that you mean a lot to me. You were the first one to make me feel welcome here, and Shmeil, he has this thing, where he wants to protect me…” she trailed off with an indulgent smile. “He’s just happy I have someone I can talk to, even about things I might not typically share with others.”

McGee gave a soft smile. “It’s good to know that you trust me like that.” he told her. Something in Ziva’s expression shifted, she suddenly became serious.

“I trust you with my life, Tim.” she told him, her voice soft but firm, no doubt in her dark eyes.

“So do I.” McGee nodded. His eyes flickered to her throat as she swallowed and he could feel the butterflies in his stomach go wild as he realized just how close they were sitting to each other on the couch. He quickly shook his head, setting down his glass.

“I better go.” he softly said. “It’s getting late and Sarah gave me a rough draft she wants me to look over…”

He slowly stood and Ziva nodded, getting up herself.

“Well, it was a great day.” she said as she walked him to the door, getting his coat.

“It was. I had a lot of fun.” Tim agreed. “Thanks for the food. And the wine.” he added, causing her to frown.

“You’re still good to drive, right?” she asked him, her eyes flickering to the empty bottle on the dining table and the one next to it, almost empty, too.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I think Shmeil had the most, I only had one glass.” Tim told her, causing Ziva to chuckle.

“I’m beginning to think he could drink us under the table any day.” she muttered, opening the door to him. “Drive safely.” she said softly. Tim nodded, hesitating briefly before he stepped up to her and hugged her goodbye. He felt Ziva tense briefly before she relaxed and wrapped her arms around him, melting against him. Maybe that hadn’t been such a great idea, he thought, because suddenly he didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to leave and stay instead, finish the bottle of wine and talk through the night with her…

But Ziva’s hold let up slowly and she leaned back and he had to let go of her, though she leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you, for the wonderful day.” she thanked him softly and Tim swallowed thickly.

“My pleasure.” he responded before stepping out of her apartment and making his way down the hall. He heard the door close behind him and forced himself to keep going, deciding on taking the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, lest he do something stupid, like turn back around and go back to her apartment. Inside of which Ziva rested her head against the door, taking a shaky breath as she closed her eyes. She really needed to get a grip on these feelings, or one of these days she’d end up kissing him on the lips instead of the cheek.

_fin._


End file.
